4th Field Regiment, Royal Australian Artillery
| 4th Regiment, Royal Australian Artillery | |
|---|---|
| Active | 3 May 1960 – Present |
| Country |
 Australia
|
| Branch | Army |
| Type | Artillery |
| Role | Field Artillery |
| Size | Three batteries |
| Part of | 3rd Brigade |
| Garrison/HQ | Lavarack Barracks, Townsville |
| Anniversaries | 4 May 1960 (Regimental birthday) |
| Insignia | |
| Unit Colour Patch |  |
The 4th Regiment, Royal Australian Artillery is an artillery unit of the Australian Army. Currently it provides close artillery support to the 3rd Brigade and is based at Lavarack Barracks in Townsville, Queensland. The Regiment was raised in its current form in 1960 and is currently re-equipping with M777A2 lightweight towed howitzers. The Regiment deployed during Australia's commitment to the Vietnam War and has subsequently deployed to Singapore and East Timor.
The 4th Field Regiment was raised at Wacol on 3 May 1960, being the first major Regular Army unit to be raised in Queensland. The Regiment moved to Lavarack Barracks in 1968. As a complete unit, the Regiment served two tours of duty in South Vietnam, as well as sending individual batteries to South Vietnam, Singapore, Malaya and East Timor. The ancestry of the Regiment can be drawn indirectly to volunteer artillerymen of Victoria, but the modern Regiment has three distinct lineages: the 4th Field Artillery Brigade (Australian Imperial Force), the 4th Field Regiment RAA (Militia) and the 2nd/4th Field Regiment, Australian Imperial Force.
The first seeds of the modern Regiment were sown in the Victorian colonial artillery, when the St Kilda Rifles were equipped with 9-pounder guns and became part of the Victoria Volunteer Artillery Regiment on 1 January 1856. The first use of the number "four" designation was made by a unit in New South Wales in June 1912, but the 4th Field Artillery Brigade was placed into suspended animation at the outbreak of the First World War.
With the expansion of the Australian Imperial Force to two infantry divisions, the 4th Field Artillery Brigade (4 FAB) AIF was raised as part of the 2nd Division on 23 September 1915 in Melbourne's Albert Park. The majority of 4 FAB's officers and non-commissioned officers were drawn from the descendent units of the St Kilda gunners from the 7th Field Artillery Brigade and some personnel from the 8th Field Artillery Brigade. The unit embarked two months later for Suez. Initially, the brigade consisted of three batteries – the 10th, 11th and 12th – but in Egypt it as reorganised to reflect the British artillery organisation of four batteries, and another battery – the 19th – was raised. Embarking from Alexandria en route to Marseilles on 14 March 1916, the unit was equipped with British 18-pounder guns and was put into action near Armentieres on 8 April 1916.
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